Product Description

Jack Vermillion is seeing red. So is Earl V. Pike. So is a smart, beautiful NYC detective named Casey Spandau. For Jack, it began when Earl asked for a little favor--one former soldier to another. With Jack’s son in serious trouble with the law and his shipping company, Black Water Transit, about to hit the big time, Jack saw a chance to be a good father, a good citizen, and a good CEO--by ratting out Earl V. Pike to the feds. It was a monumental mistake.

Now Pike is mad. Bodies are piling up. And all the backstabbers are coming out of the woodwork in Jack’s rattled world. Jack’s only hope: detective Casey Spandau, who began her week hunting for a sex criminal and ended up with Earl V. Pike--a man using guile, skill, and one astounding long-range weapon to kill everyone who gets in his way. For Casey and Jack Vermillion, making Earl V. Pike angry has turned into a cross-country nightmare. But taking him down will be even worse.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #513507 in Books
• Published on: 2002-07-30
• Released on: 2002-07-30
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 6.86" h x 1.18" w x 4.19" l, .47 pounds
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 432 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Stroud reaches into his deep well of talent and comes up with this ferociously driven, intricately woven thriller about a New York businessman trying to fight his way out of a government frame. At center stage is Jack Vermillion, the workaholic owner of Black Water Systems, a successful shipping company. His only disappointment in life is his son, Danny, a thief and drug addict now in federal prison. In an attempt to cut a better deal for Danny, Vermillion rats out a client, former army colonel and sharpshooter Earl Pike, who wants to ship guns to Mexico. When federal officials move in to seize the shipment, several of them get shot to death by a long-range sniper. It's Vermillion, however, not Pike, who is arrested for the slaughter, ostensibly because an ambitious federal prosecutor sees an opportunity to confiscate everything he owns under asset forfeiture laws. Meanwhile, as Vermillion tries to figure out what happened, New York police detective Casey Spandau is equally frustrated. She's investigating a double murder, but can't get any evidence on the man she knows committed it: Earl Pike. Stroud (Close Pursuit; Sniper's Moon) masterfully handles the converging story lines, each drawing upon their own vivid scenery and characters so fresh they snap. Throughout, Stroud never missteps in either tone or pacing; as usual, his blunt portrayal of law enforcement as a deeply troubled institution is highly convincing he notes that "the law is a machine for processing and canning garbage meat." As for the writing, it's brawny and vigorous and seasoned with dark humor much supplied by Vermillion's business partner, the cerebral, wisecracking Creek Johnson. Stroud provides a brutally frank glimpse into government deceit, personal ambition and criminal motivation. (Aug. 15)Forecast: This excellent thriller rapturously blurbed by Tony Hillerman and Jonathan Kellerman, among others has the potential to be Stroud's breakout book, but sales success will depend primarily on word-of-mouth publicity.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In this fast-paced novel, a shadowy ex-soldier approaches container ship company owner Jack Vermillion with a business proposition. The soldier wants to send a shipment of arms overseas without alerting the ATF. This deal solves a personal problem for Jack, who agrees to turn the soldier and the arms over to the ATF in return for a reduction of jail time for his problem son. However, the tables are turned on Jack, who finds himself on the run from a drug smuggling charge while trying to find the person who set him up. Stroud's (Sniper's Moon) story, read by Bruce Reizen, holds the listener's interest and contains many colorful characters, ranging from a cold-blooded federal lawyer to a handful of New York City cops. The dialog features many excellent one-liners as well. Not a great work of art but a fun summer diversion; for larger audio collections. - Stephen L. Hupp, West Virginia Univ. at Parkersburg
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Successful businessman Jack Vermillon, owner of a container ship company, is desperate to help his son, an ex-junkie charged with trafficking and armed robbery. Although Jack cannot get him out of jail, he might be able to get him moved from a maximum-security prison--if he can give law-enforcement officials something in trade. When tough-guy Earl Pike, a military man with high-level CIA contacts, approaches Jack about shipping his personal gun collection out of the country--a highly illegal move--Jack figures he has something for the feds. The bust is set to go down, but all hell breaks loose, and when the shooting stops, three federal agents and a member of the NYPD are dead. Now the feds are interested in pinning the fiasco on Jack, and so is Earl Pike. This is an exciting, brutal crime novel with a cast of compelling characters, including an ambitious female federal agent who loves to throw press conferences while wearing black combat fatigues from DKNY. Carsten displays a sophisticated, sardonic sense of humor as he spins out a high-octane, well-plotted thriller. Joanne Wilkinson
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